BOUQUETS and BRICKBATS

By Enterprise editorial staff

Published 1:00 am, Saturday, April 6, 2013

Bouquets go to:

-- Dwayne DuBois, for being named as the next Hardin-Jefferson head football coach on Thursday. DuBois has spent the past eight years as Vidor's offensive coordinator. The job opened in January when former coach David Martel left after eight seasons to become the football coach at Alief Hastings. Martel went 25-55.

-- Former Lamar football player J.J. Hayes, for signing with the Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League. Hayes, a wide receiver, previously signed with the Jacksonville Sharks of the AFL in November. The league's 2013 season began in March. Hayes played at Lamar in 2010 and 2011. He led the Cardinals with 53 receptions for 951 yards and eight touchdowns in 2011, and he also led the team in 2010 with 52 catches for 745 yards. Hayes had the second-most touchdown catches on the team in 2010 with six.

-- Classic Chevrolet, for joining with the national Chevrolet Youth Baseball program to provide new equipment, invitations to free instructional clinics, and an opportunity for community members to enter the Free Chevrolet vehicle sweepstakes. Classic Chevrolet will present the West End Little League in Beaumont with equipment kits including equipment bags, baseball buckets, practice hitting nets, umpire ball bags, batting tees and Chevrolet Youth Baseball T-shirts, according to a press release. The company also will make a financial donation to the West End Little League.

-- Lamar University chemical engineering doctoral students Xi Zhang and Qingliang He, for receiving Polyolefins Conference Scholarships sponsored by the Society of Plastics Engineers. Both Zhang and He are research students in the Lamar Integrated Composites Laboratory directed by assistant professor John Guo. The scholarships included a cash award of $1,000 and covered the cost of registration, meals and lodging, according to a Lamar press release. This year's conference, held on Feb. 25 in Houston, saw the highest attendance in a decade with more than 600 attendees including 225 exhibitors and more than 50 college students from across Texas.

Brickbats go to:

-- Whoever is responsible for several vehicle burglaries in various areas and neighborhoods throughout Orange County. Most of the burglaries have occurred on vehicles with unlocked doors, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Deputies urge residents to their car doors and hide valuable property so it is not visible through windows. Sheriff's investigators are asking for the public's help with any information on suspicious people or activity in neighborhoods. If residents can safely obtain a license plate number from any suspicious vehicle, they are asked to do so. Tips should be phoned into the department's main line at (409) 883-2612, which is answered 24 hours a day.